Automotive industry ushered in a period of global change

German Daimler Group has announced that the Mercedes-Benz passenger car and commercial vehicle business segment and the Daimler truck and passenger car business segment will be transformed into two separate legal entities. Daimler said that the transformation is aimed at strengthening the future competitiveness of various business areas and better releasing their development potential and profitability in different markets. In fact, not only Daimler, many auto companies are currently undergoing reforms, transformations, and upgrades in different ways in order to gain an advantage in the future market competition. Obviously, with the promotion of new energy and information technology, the automotive industry is undergoing a major transformation and transformation.

Market changes to promote business transformation

Recently, the news that Chery will be acquired as a whole has aroused widespread concern in the industry. Although Chery’s official made public rumours about this, it is a fact that Chery's business will be integrated and the introduction of strategic investors.

It is understood that Chery’s brands such as Kwong Chi and Kai Wing will be introduced into strategic investors respectively. In addition to Wuliangye and Baoneng, Gree, Baidu and Industrial Bank have become potential investors of Chery.

According to sources, Wuliangye will invest in Chery's Kaiyi Motors and build new energy vehicles in Yibin to build a new energy vehicle with a capital injection of around 1 billion yuan. The investment objective of the company is Chery’s Guanzhi Motors. The car is about to enter the second time. It is waiting for the right time to announce the entry of Baoneng.

At the same time, Great Wall Motor Co., Ltd., which has been self-inflicted with its own brand, has begun a joint venture with BMW's MINI brand and plans to jointly produce new energy vehicles.

The industry analysts believe that, to a certain extent, it is the changes in the current development environment that have promoted the integration and transformation of automotive companies. At the moment, Chery rolled out a huge stall: In addition to Chery itself, it also invested in Kaiyi, Qoros and Jaguar Land Rover; from the vehicle platform to the engine, transmission, new energy vehicles, autopilot, etc. Research and development in the area require a lot of capital investment. After the introduction of strategic investors, not only can the shortage of funds be solved, but also Chery's brands can be more focused and accelerate the overall listing of Chery.

For Great Wall Motors, cars and new energy have always been his shortcomings. With the introduction of the New Deal, such as the “Double Points”, Great Wall Motors urgently needs to make up for the short board. After the joint venture with the MINI brand, they can use their technology and brand advantages to quickly launch new energy automotive products and create brand influence.

For the same reason, Ford Motor Co., Ltd. has also established a joint venture with Zotye Automobile to produce new energy vehicles. Daimler has also established joint ventures with BAIC, Renault-Nissan Alliance and Dongfeng Motor to increase the promotion of new energy vehicles.

Change has become a global trend in the automotive industry

While the independent brands accelerate their transformation and upgrading, transnational car companies are also making changes. For example, Daimler is planning to further focus and strengthen its corporate structure by establishing an independent legal entity.

Daimler said that independent legal entities have their own corporate responsibilities, so that they can concentrate more on meeting customer needs and thus have the opportunity to create more added value. At the same time, the Group did not plan to implement budget cuts, initiate efficiency-enhancing projects, or plan for related layoffs.

Chairman of the Board of Directors of Daimler AG and the President of the Mercedes-Benz Group, said: “The Daimler is facing an unprecedented challenge: On the one hand, Daimler has achieved unprecedented results; on the other hand, Daimler The business is also undergoing disruptive changes, and if you want to continue to maintain the competitiveness and profitability of your company, you must continue to transform and adapt to the rapid changes in the technology, culture, and structure of the market environment, and explore a new business structure to face it. The changes in the market environment will ensure that we will meet the challenges of the new era of the automotive industry in the best possible conditions."

It is understood that until now, Daimler's board of directors and the board of supervisors have not yet finalized the implementation of the new structure of the group. Related assessments and consultations such as tax issues and comprehensive due diligence are still in progress. After the related work is completed, the board of directors and the supervisory board will make the final decision accordingly. If the board of directors and the board of supervisors finally decide to implement the new group structure, relevant measures will be approved at the Daimler shareholder meeting. The relevant motion will be voted on at the earliest 2019 shareholders meeting.

It can be seen from the recent changes in Chinese and foreign car companies that change has become a global trend in the automotive industry. At this year's Frankfurt Motor Show in Germany, this trend has become more prominent: Daimler Group announced that by 2022, Mercedes-Benz The overall product lineup will be electrified, and at least one electric vehicle will be provided for each vehicle series; Mullen CEO Volkswagen Group also stated that smart driving and new energy vehicles will become the next development focus of the Volkswagen Group, and plans to 2025 In the year, more than 80 models of electric vehicles were introduced; BMW Group stated that it will launch a general attack on electric vehicles.

The new era of automobiles accelerates

Since 2017, the pace of the development of the automotive industry towards smart and new energy has been significantly accelerated. Both domestic companies and international giants are accelerating their respective "future cars" business.

At this year's Frankfurt Auto Show, Daimler Group has come up with four mature products that have different technology routes and can be put into the market soon. Volkswagen plans to produce 3 million electric cars in the future, and BMW will show it. A series of new models for mass production of pure electric vehicles.

At the same time, the convergence between traditional auto companies and emerging high-tech companies is also accelerating.

Not long ago, BAIC announced that it had reached strategic cooperation with Baidu in the field of automobile intelligence. Based on Baidu's Apollo open platform and Beijing Automotive Group's vehicle platform, the two parties will use Baidu's artificial intelligence core technology to mass-produce L3-class autonomous vehicles around 2019 and mass-produce L4-class autonomous vehicles around 2021. At the same time, Baidu also deeply integrates technologies such as vehicle information security and image recognition with the in-vehicle system of BAIC Group to create a one-stop car networking product. It is expected that by the end of 2018, BAIC Group's own brands will fully carry Baidu's Apollo car networking products; by 2019, Beiqi's vehicles carrying Baidu's car networking products will exceed one million units.

Xu Heyi, chairman of BAIC Group, said that with the rise of artificial intelligence technology, traditional manufacturing industry is facing an unprecedented major change. Intelligentization is the development trend of the global automotive industry, and it is also one of the important routes for the transformation of BAIC Group to manufacturing service-oriented and innovative companies. Hope that through cooperation with Baidu, more solutions will be proposed in the areas of automatic driving, intelligent networking and smart transportation.

In response, industry experts said that new energy and intelligence have become the recognized direction of development in the automotive industry. With the continuous strengthening of national policy support, this trend is accelerating, and technological progress will continue to promote the emergence of various new models and new structures in the automotive industry. The integration of traditional manufacturing industries and information technology industries will also become more and more close.